Lansdale Historical Society program on 1963

Lansdale's own Peggy March (born Margaret Battavio) soared to the top of the pop charts in 1963 with her No. 1 hit song "I Will Follow Him." Here she appears on the cover of the Sunday Bulletin Magazine. Photo submitted by the Lansdale Historical Society.

By For The Times Herald, From a press release, From Lansdale Historical Society

The North Penn area was running out of water because the population was booming.

New housing developments were replacing local farmland. Shopping centers and new schools were being built to meet increasing demands.

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It was a year of accomplishment overshadowed by the grief caused by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in what has become the defining event for an entire generation of Americans.

The Lansdale Historical Society will travel back to those times when it presents “Rewind 1963,” Tuesday, Feb. 12,at 7:30 p.m. at the Lansdale Parks and Recreation Building.

President Dick Shearer and Vice President Steve Moyer will narrate a video presentation highlighting the major events of 1963, from civil rights unrest in the South and jet plane crashes with links close to home, to the brewing war in Vietnam .

It was also a watershed year for the growth of Merck & Co.’s facilities in West Point.

Lansdale launched a massive downtown urban renewal project while the North Penn School District planned for the future by selecting the site for a massive, new high school.

“Rewind 1963” also will include local and national advertising from 1963, births, deaths, and a rundown of the top movies, TV shows and records.

Among the top pop records of 1963 was Lansdale’s own Peggy March singing her teen favorite, “I Will Follow Him”.

The parks and recreation building is located at Seventh Street and Lansdale Avenue.

There is no admission fee but donations are appreciated.

A second LHS community program dealing exclusively with the Kennedy assassination will be held Tuesday, Oct. 8.

As part of this show, audience members will be invited to describe what they were doing when they heard the president had been shot.

Those first-person accounts will be videotaped for preservation in the society’s archives.